Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Friday 17 January 2025. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
Quilter repositions portfolios amid bond market crisis
Quilter has conducted an ad-hoc rebalance across its WealthSelect Managed, Responsible and Sustainable ranges in response to the bond-market crisis.
Portfolio managers Stuart Clark and Helen Bradshaw have reviewed the portfolios and increased the fixed-income allocation at the lower-risk levels within the range.
Quilter said while the rebalance considered bond markets broadly, the recent underperformance of Gilts meant the holding was both topped up to its previous model level as well as benefiting from the higher overall fixed-income allocation.
FCA’s retail supervision moves up a gear
The FCA continues to be extremely focused on the customer journey, the role of all firms involved in the journey and the level of appropriate oversight, writes Simon Collins, managing director, regulatory, at Konexo.
With some of the work Konexo has undertaken over the last 12 months, there have been concerns in some of its reviews that customers are not getting the appropriate solutions, which may be too predetermined and not taking in to account sufficient individual customer circumstances or consideration of vulnerabilities.
Royal London appoints Isabel Hudson as board chair
Royal London has appointed Isabel Hudson as a non-executive director and chair of its board.
Hudson replaces Lynne Peacock, current interim chair, who will be stepping down from the board on 9 February.
Hudson has extensive financial services experience spanning insurance, pensions and regulation, telecoms and house building sectors.
Quote Of The Day
There’s no denying that the account is more complicated to explain than a standard ISA, with its dual purpose for saving for a first home and for retirement meaning it can appeal to two very different groups of people
– Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell, comments on the Lifetime ISA amid calls by the influential Treasury Committee to reform it
Stat Attack
Vitality has today published a new report that reveals one of the biggest challenges to the health of the UK workforce is the growth of unhealthy living. Key findings from the last decade include:
Obesity rates have increased by 51%,
rising by 55% for those under 35,
and one in four UK employees were obese in 2023.
Anxiety and depression rates among UK workers have surged 75%.
Lost productivity has more than doubled across a 10-year period.
Reported rates of depression have more than doubled for employees aged 35 to 49.
Source: Vitality
In Other News
Global asset-management group Columbia Threadneedle Investments has expanded its offering for European investors with the launch of the CT (Lux) Pan European Focus, which will be managed by Frederic Jeanmaire.
The new CT (Lux) Pan European Focus invests in 30-40 holdings, producing a concentrated portfolio of European and UK companies.
The portfolio manager seeks business models that score highly on the Porter’s Five Forces framework – a model the team has used successfully across other strategies in its European and Global equities range. The team focuses on businesses that are undergoing transformation and are compounding returns.
New analysis of Freedom of Information (FOI) data from the Ministry of Justice has found that the number of probate cases taking over a year to be granted has risen by 134% over the last three years.
This increase in wait time comes as the government prepares to make pensions liable to inheritance tax (IHT), which could further delay the grant of probate in many cases, according to Quilter, the financial adviser and pension provider that obtained the FOI data.
The number of probate cases taking between 21 and 23 months to be granted has risen by 132%, highlighting the ongoing strain on the probate process even before pension wealth becomes part of the process in April 2027.
Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter, said: “Under the current set of rules we are already witnessing huge delays in granting probate, causing significant stress for grieving families. With pensions set to become part of the taxable estate from April 2027, the situation is only likely to worsen.”
From Elsewhere
UK regulators delay new banking rules for a second time (Financial Times)
Investors strap in for prolonged pain in debt-scarred UK markets (Reuters)
Rio Tinto, Glencore discuss mining’s biggest-ever potential merger (Bloomberg)
Did You See?
When phrases such as pensions dashboards become part of your everyday vocabulary at work, it’s easy to forget those words may mean very little to non-industry people, writes Paul Muir, chief product officer at Dunstan Thomas.
To test this, I asked some members at my local running club to tell me what they think about the idea behind pensions dashboards.
I was met with a fair few blank faces looking back at me. In fact, no one knew what I was referring to.
I imagine this would be a representative response from much of the general public. If they have come across the term, they may not know what is meant by it or understand why it could be of benefit to them.
Read the full article here.
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